Category: being a daughter
5 hours in almost 12 days
That’s how much time my husband, Ryan, and I have spent together.
Between his travel schedule for his new job and my weekend away that’s about how much time we have spent together in almost 2 weeks.
Yes, I did just mention his new job.
It’s a new job at a former company.
It’s a good move and good fit for him.
It’s a good move for the family.
It’s been kind of crazy the last month or so.
The kids and I have had a good week. We’ve stayed busy.
I’ll post about that this weekend.
For now, I just wanted to say hello.
And, let you know I had a little anxiety attack this evening.
Yesterday, on one of our adventures, I noticed a bump on baby girls wrist.
We were at the park and supposed to be having fun, but I had a bit of an anxiety attack there, too.
She hadn’t done anything to hurt it. In fact, she just reached out to hold my hand, as she does multiple times a day, and I felt the bump.
I slept on it last night and when I checked her wrist this morning it was still there.
It doesn’t seem to bother her, but I called the pediatrician to get it checked out anyway.
We got in this morning. It was not our regular doc, but one we have seen before. He’s an older gentleman. He’s probably seen hundreds of kids (or more) over the years.
He thoroughly checked it out and told me that it is probably nothing to worry about but to keep an eye on it.
Probably nothing to worry about.
I didn’t worry about it for most of the day while we were busy, but nap/quiet time set in.
I thought about it.
When she woke up from her nap I got her out of her crib and felt her wrist.
Still there.
And, now she doesn’t want me messing with it.
I snuggled her on the sofa and then I started getting anxious.
Probably nothing to worry about.
But how can I not worry. She’s my baby. And, I’m worrying.
I called my mom in tears. It helped to hear her tell me that it will be okay.
If you pray, please pray that it is nothing to worry about. If you don’t pray, please send good ju-ju.
And, Ryan isn’t here to see it.
I sent him this photo last night.
I’m not sure if this makes it look worse than it is or not as bad as it is, but you can’t really tell what it looks like unless you look at it in person.
Anyway, it’s probably nothing to worry about, but I can’t help worrying.
I just want my hubby to come home and my baby to be okay.
home is…a tired mommy after a long week.
{nana and bops visit} day 2
We hung out around the house today.
The kids played with Nana and Bops while Ryan worked and I ran some errands.
The kids and I went out to dinner with Nana while Ryan and Bops headed out for H&H with the boys.
H&H is a monthly meeting of the minds that Ryan has with some of his buddies. They visit various brewpubs thoughout Portland to eat, drink, and raise a ruckus. Bops got to be a part of that tonight.
I am sure they will be home well past our bedtime.
Maybe one of them will fill us in on what happened.
Maybe one of them will write a guest blog about it….ahem, Fil.
I got to go to a yoga class today.
Always good for the mind and body.
I did not take any photos today.
Not even with my iphone!
Tomorrow we will go on an adventure.
I will take more photos then.
home is…a day without photos (it doesn’t happen very often around here).
{nana and bops visit} day 1
Ryan’s parents are visiting us.
They arrived this afternoon after a long flight across country from New York.
We spent the afternoon playing outside in some of the most beautiful weather we have had all year.
We’ve got a lot of hanging out to do and an adventure planned.
Stay tuned…
For now, we all need to get some rest.
home is…visits from the ones we love.
{colorado} day 7
Friday morning Topher (my dad) stayed home to have a leisurely breakfast and spend time with the kids and me before he had to go down to Denver for work.
Topher took the kids outside to say good morning to the deer as the sun was rising.
We enjoyed breakfast together.
And did a little bumper throwing for the dogs.
Baby girl and Meme played upstairs while the little guy helped Topher get ready for work.
While baby girl took a nap the little guy made up games while playing outside on the decks.
And, we took a walk in the open space to look for treasures and pick up trash blown around by the wind.
We made it to the airport just fine on Friday afternoon. Meme helped us get all our “stuff” inside DIA, get checked in, and get to security. The little guy was very upset about saying goodbye to Meme. He was so brave getting through security and helped my take care of baby girl while I got all of out things together to get on the train and to Concourse A for our flight. {My mom told me she was watching through a window and wished she had her camera because it was so cute how he was taking care of his baby sister.}
The flight was rather uneventful. Baby girl cried a bit, the little guy asked “are we there yet?” multiple times, but they were very well behaved for the most part. I even figured out that the three of us CAN fit into an airplane lavatory! It is busy when you travel alone with two young kids. Definitely no time for reading magazines, sleeping, listening to music, or working on your computer.
We were the first ones onto the plane and the last ones off.
When we got off the jetway the kids were ready to RUN!
We finally made it to the security exit and they were holding hands when the little guy saw Poppa.
He yelled, “Poppa!” and was off running!
Baby girl figured out who he was and ran to him as well. I wish I had been behind him with a camera!
It felt good to be home.
The little guy was sitting in his cair in the playroom this morning after breakfast. He was quiet and I walked over to him.
He said, “I want to be at Meme and Tophers.”
I said, “It’s sad when we have to say goodbye to the people we love, isn’t it?”
We hugged and then talked about how we would see them again in July when they come to visit us. For today, July is not soon enough, but we will get back to life and July will be here before the little guy knows it.
Until then, we can look at the photos (all 600+ of them) and relive our wonder-filled adventure in Colorado!
home is…making memories.
home sweet home
I had hoped to get a post up of our last day in Colorado, but after an afternoon spent in airports and an airplane alone with the kiddos I am spent.
I did take 600+ photos this week…and have another 100+ that I got from my dad’s camera. Oh, and that doesn’t include photos taken on my iPhone. There will be more posts to come.
I did not mention it, but during all the fun we had I was battling a cold that I caught the week before we left. It’s still sticking around. It started out with my left side (nose, ear, throat) all stuffed and plugged and migrated to my right side the last couple of days. Not sure if I also had allergies in Colorado, too…the wind was blowing all kinds of dust around!
At any rate, I am headed to bed with some kind of get better medicine and vitamins.
home is…home sweet home.
{colorado} day 6
Today started with saying good morning to the deer.
And, hanging out with the dogs.
Then it was all about tu-tu’s and capes.
And, all the play that happens when you are wearing them.
I made tu-tu’s for the girls, and Meme made capes for all of the kids.
Baby girl liked the tu-tu!
The little guy and Sha-Sha, I mean Batman and Batgirl, loved the capes!
We took a trip to another beautiful playground in my parents neighborhood.
Baby girl and the little guy did not want to leave. They had so much fun in the warm, sunny weather…even if the wind was blowing like crazy.
The little guy tried to teach Sha-Sha about remote control Jeeps. She wasn’t as interested as he had hoped, but she did alright.
The Jeep has a busted rear axle…a couple too many trips down the stairs.
We did have to change the batteries three times during our visit…the little guy loves the thing! We’ll definitely have to get a remote control Jeep for home.
We even painted finger and toenails today.
My sister came up to have dinner with us tonight. I wish I could have spent more time with her, but we’ll just have to plan another visit…or they can come out to visit us in Oregon!
As I was packing up some of our things tonight the little guy asked, “Can I bring my cape home?”
I said, “Of course, that’s why Meme made it for you!”
Then he said, “Can I sleep with my cape on?”
To that I had to tell him, “No, it’s not safe.” Although I thought that was one of the cutest questions I had ever heard.
I have a feeling that we will need Meme to make many more capes for the little guy!
Meme is putting him to bed tonight…with his cape right next to him.
home is…super heros and ballerina fairies.
{colorado} day 5
Today we went to one of my happiest places on earth.
Vail.
From the time I was my children’s ages I spent a lot of time up in Vail…Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. This continued throughout my 30 years in Colorado.
When I drive up the East side of Vail Pass it is like pure magic. And, when I drop over the West side into the Vail Valley it is like coming home. Everything about it is awesome…the views, the smell, the sounds.
I wanted to share this with my kids as soon as I could.
Today was the day.
It was a quick trip into the village. Across the covered bridge. Up Bridge Street to The Toy Shoppe. The same toy store, with the same Hello Kitty toys, keychains, and vanity license plates for kids bikes as 30 years ago.
We made it up to peek at the Vista Bahn and watch a couple of skiers come down the mountain. Then the kids were ready to move on.
And move on we did.
We drove up to the Cordillera where my aunt and uncle have a beautiful home. We had lunch with my aunt and uncle, cousin and his fiance.
We played, talked, reminisced about fun had in Vail together, and just enjoyed eachothers company.
Everybody was happy. It was magical.
Thank you to my mom for driving us up and back.
Thank you to my aunt, uncle, cousin and fiance for entertaining my kids.
Thank you to my wonderful kiddos for sharing one of my happiest places on earth with me.
home is…going to a happy place.
{colorado} day 4
Everybody slept well last night. I know the update on the sleep thing is boring, but when you are traveling with 2 kids under the age of 4 sleep is important…for everybody!
Although the weather people thought we *may* get snow last night we woke up to blue skies this morning. Weather people can be wrong everywhere…not just in Portland! I also find it funny that no matter where you go people always say, “Just wait a few minutes and it will change,” about the weather…but I digress.
So, the snow and Sha-Sha were no shows today. My niece had a bad cough so stayed home in Denver with my sister.
So, we improvised.
We took our time this morning taking showers and getting dressed and then headed down the hill. We made a quick trip to Michaels to get supplies for making tu-tu’s and capes, went to get a bagel at Einstein’s for lunch, and drove into Golden to play at a playground while it was nice and sunny!
We played outside a bit at Meme & Tophers and then baby girl had a nap and the little guy and Mommy had some quiet time when Meme ran a quick errand.
We eventually went back outside to play in the sun with the remote control Jeep that Topher brought home on Saturday.
We also headed to the playground that with arguably one of the best views in the world.
You be the judge.
Then it was bathtime!
And, shortly after we had more visitors to the yard.
Tomorrow we have a fun adventure planned…stay tuned!
home is…being tired, happy and excited (and missing the hubby).
{colorado} day 1 and 2
We made it to Colorado with the two kids in tow!
We got up to my parents house last night after a pretty uneventful morning of travel.
We got acquainted with the wildlife (actually said hello to some deer out the back window, too).
Played with a new remote control Jeep that Topher brought home.
And had dinner with my sister, brother-in-law, and niece.
Ryan left to fly to Florida for work on Sunday morning, so he missed out on the festivities which included lunch with the Catlin/Fields/Larson/Maiman bunch.
A little time playing outside.
And, a visit from the rest of the Larsons on their way home from Costa Rica!
Baby girl also learned about Elk poop.
And, how to fall down gracefully in a tu-tu.
I also feel like I have been eating non-stop since we got here. Might have to go for a run tomorrow morning to work some of it off!
home is…time for bed after a busy couple of days!
stephany taddeo 